


Fever Dream

by MirrorMystic



Series: Sunless Days [4]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Post-Canon, Spoilers for Ascended Personae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 11:52:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13857234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MirrorMystic/pseuds/MirrorMystic
Summary: A horrified shriek cuts through the air. She turns and sees Ann, frozen in her tracks, her hands clapped over her mouth. She sees Makoto, speechless, reaching for Ann’s shoulder. She sees Ryuji, stricken, the look in his eyes flashing from shock, to grief, to fury.The knife clatters from her hands.“Ryuji,” she pleads. “Ryuji, wait-”Ryuji doesn’t wait. He takes aim, and fires.





	Fever Dream

**Author's Note:**

> A tale from Tokyo's Sunless Days... and a glimpse into the darkest timeline. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy the read.

~*~  
  
 _You should have made the deal._   
  
The words echo in her head, in a voice that is both hers, and not hers. It joins the rising chorus around her, the roaring flames, the susurrus of inhuman voices, the burning of the stigma branded into her cheek.   
  
Hunters lie at her feet, bloody, broken. Most of them, mercifully, are already dead. A few moan in wordless agony, festooned with stab wounds, gurgling blood or wheezing from punctured lungs.   
  
Her words are the only ones that matter. And she has the audacity to say them with a smile.   
  
“This… wasn’t… your… fault,” Shiho gasps, fighting for every breath.   
  
For one nightmarish moment, Shiho’s life is in her hands. Shiho’s voice pulls her out of darkness, dispels the aura of blood-red fire rising from her limbs. She comes back to herself, realizes what she’s done, what _he_ made her do-   
  
And then Shiho’s gone.   
  
And Hifumi’s holding the knife.   
  
A horrified shriek cuts through the air. She turns and sees Ann, frozen in her tracks, her hands clapped over her mouth. She sees Makoto, speechless, reaching for Ann’s shoulder. She sees Ryuji, stricken, the look in his eyes flashing from shock, to grief, to fury.   
  
The knife clatters from her hands.   
  
“Ryuji,” she pleads. “Ryuji, wait-”  
  
Ryuji doesn’t wait. He takes aim, and fires.   
  
His shotgun roars in the warehouse’s enclosed space. Hifumi staggers back, a spray of buckshot in her stomach- but the shots don’t penetrate. They’re stopped by the aura of red that flashes across her form, the lines of magma seething beneath her flesh. She can feel the burning of the stigma on her cheek, the rising, imperious indignation of the woman wearing her skin-  
  
Jezebel’s hellish red aura abruptly vanishes.   
  
“No,” Hifumi gasps through gritted teeth, desperately forcing her down.   
  
An invisible shockwave of kinetic energy slams into her like a freight train. Hifumi slams into the far wall hard enough to crack the concrete. Jezebel’s aura flares up again, coating her limbs and filling her eyes with crimson light. Hifumi clutches her head, reeling from the superhuman blow. She falls to her knees, and spits blood onto the floor.   
  
She lifts her head, and her blurring vision resolves into Ryuji, marching forward, wreathed in azure flames.  
  
Seiten Taisei’s robe, sash, and armor forms around Ryuji in a haze of golden light. His strides grow, into a jog, into a run, until finally he’s sprinting down the length of the warehouse, light gathering at his fists.  
  
 ** _“MURDERER!”_**  
  
Ryuji screams, in a fury that chills Hifumi to her core. He throws himself into the air, his fist crashing down like a meteor falling to earth-  
  
There is a thunderous crash, and an explosion of gold and azure light. Hifumi, cringing, cornered, warily opens her eyes.   
  
Makoto stands before her, midnight-blue coat billowing in the otherworldly breeze, Anat’s gauntlets shining silver on her arms.   
  
“Stand down, Ryuji,” Makoto growls.   
  
Ryuji takes a deep breath, meeting Makoto’s eyes.   
  
“...Get out of the way, Mako.”  
  
“I said, stand down!” Makoto barks. She glances over her shoulder, briefly meeting Hifumi’s eyes. “We have to take her in. We’ll bring her back to the Association. Then, she can… explain herself.”  
  
“How can you say that?!” Ryuji demands. “How can you say that after what she did?!”  
  
“ _I loved her, too, Ryuji!_ ” Makoto snaps, tears in her eyes. “But _this_ … this isn’t the way.”  
  
Ryuji recoils as if slapped. He takes a shuddering breath, and turns around, clenching his fists until his knuckles are white and his arms begin to shake.   
  
Makoto blows out a breath.   
  
“Come on, Hifumi,” she says softly, turning to take Hifumi’s hand.   
  
Ryuji bellows out a cry of wordless fury and smashes Makoto aside. Hifumi squeals in terror, pressing her back against the wall. A vicious anger burns in Ryuji’s eyes.   
  
Makoto cries out, and slams Ryuji off his feet.   
  
They hit the ground and roll, like two lovers tumbling, Makoto managing to get an arm around his throat. Ryuji growls and smashes his head back into Makoto’s face. She spits out a curse, clutching her nose, while Ryuji gathers light to his fists.   
  
Makoto clamps a hand around his fist and wrenches his arm around, cracking her knee into his sternum. Ryuji gags. He doubles over, curls an arm around Makoto’s thigh, and yanks her off balance. Makoto’s shoulders hit the ground, and Ryuji falls onto her, locked in a bloody struggle.   
  
Hifumi backs away, watching in horror and growing shame as Makoto and Ryuji fight like animals in a cage. Across the room, Ann wails with grief, cradling Shiho in her lap. Hifumi cringes, feeling the insistent burn of the stigma on her cheek, and the chittering, cackling voices buzzing like locusts in her ears.   
  
_Fumi!_  
  
Hifumi looks up sharply, and regrets it immediately, a flash of pain lancing across her ribs. She cringes and clutches her chest, glancing around, searching for the voice.   
  
_Fumi, it’s me. Listen to me very carefully._  
  
Hifumi nods, making her way out of the warehouse one shaky step at a time…  
  
“Enough, Ryuji!” Makoto barks. She slams Ryuji to the floor and loops her powerful legs around his chest, pinning him down. She extends his right leg and clutches his thigh to her chest in a painful, scissoring hold. “You stop this right now!”  
  
“I… will… not… stop…” Ryuji growls. He struggles and squirms in Makoto’s grip, seething and snarling with a manic fury.   
  
Makoto tightens her grip on Ryuji’s leg, and he spits out a savage curse. His gaze finds Ann and Shiho across the room, and he steels himself, dragging himself forward even with Makoto’s weight holding him down.   
  
Makoto’s eyes flash dangerously. She channels Anat’s power into her hands, azure flames clashing with Seiten Taisei’s golden aura. She wrenches Ryuji’s leg up, forcing him face down onto the floor. Ryuji’s decade-old injury flares with pain- but he won’t be deterred.   
  
“I’ll kill her…” Ryuji seethes through gritted teeth. “I’ll _kill_ her…!”  
  
Wrath surges through Makoto’s limbs. She snarls and  tightens her grip on Ryuji’s leg, azure flames shining at her fingertips-  
  
There’s a horrid, grisly crack, and Ryuji screams.   
  
The sheer agony in his voice slaps Makoto back to her senses. She lets go of him immediately, eyes growing wide. She stammers, her heart racing, her anger morphing into panic.   
  
“Ryuji, I’m sorry, I-”  
  
Ryuji screams out some wordless curse, clutching his leg. He seethes, power gathering at his fist.   
  
A tendril of shining fire wraps around his wrist and yanks his arm back. Another whip flashes across Makoto’s waist and yanks her to her knees.   
  
**_“Stop it!”_**   
  
Ann shrieks, Hecate’s witch robe flickering around her form. Her power abruptly falters, and her twin fire whips fizzle into nothing. She sinks to her knees, her voice becoming little more than a ragged whisper.   
  
“...stop it…” she begs. “Please. I can’t…”  
  
Ann’s lip quivers, and she bites back a sob.   
  
“...I can’t lose anyone else today.”  
  
Makoto hears Ann’s voice breaking, and relents. But Ryuji is too stubborn for that. He pulls himself to his feet- or tries to, collapsing onto his stomach, pounding a fist into the floor.   
  
“Where is she?!” He screams, tears falling free. “How could you let her escape?!”  
  
Makoto sits back and takes in a shuddering breath. She reaches up with numb fingers, keying in her earpiece.   
  
“This is Commander Niijima to all channels,” Makoto says. “Hunter Hifumi Togo, callsign Raven, has gone rogue. Any Hunter who has sight of her is to call in her position and then await further orders.”  
  
Makoto pointedly meets Ryuji’s eyes.   
  
“She is to be taken alive, at all costs.”  
  
Ann crawls to Makoto on her hands and knees. Makoto gathers her in her arms. While Ann’s grief washed over her like a flood, Makoto’s settled like a stone in her chest. And Ryuji…  
  
“Futaba!” He cries. “Where did she go?! Tell me!”  
  
Ryuji grits his teeth, and pulls himself up onto one knee.   
  
“Ryuji, don’t-!” Makoto hisses.   
  
Ryuji stands, Seiten Taisei’s golden aura shining like a star from within the wound at his thigh. Because when Ryuji sets his sights on something, nothing can keep him down. Not a broken leg, broken heart, or a broken team.   
  
“Futaba!” Ryuji roars into empty air. “Futaba, I know you’re listening! I know you’re watching us! I’m going to find Hifumi, with or without your help! I’ll find her, and I’ll kill her! You hear me?! **_I’ll kill her…!_** ”  
  
~*~  
  
Futaba woke, thrashing, the ghost of a scream on her lips.   
  
“Futaba! Futaba, snap out of it!”  
  
The nightmare clung to Futaba like the folds of a quilt, and she fought to get free, flailing, babbling with dread. She felt hands around her wrists, and arms around her waist.   
  
“Futaba,” Akira whispered urgently in her ear. “Futaba, it’s us. Wake up. Wake up!”  
  
Futaba panted, her eyes unfocused, wide with fear. She slowly went still in Akira’s arms, sucking in a shuddering breath. She stayed there for a long moment, staring at the floorboards.  
  
“Akira,” she said, finally.   
  
Akira sighed in relief.   
  
“...Yeah, bug. It’s me.”  
  
“Jesus,” Ryuji said, holding Futaba’s wrists. “What the hell happened to you?”  
  
Ryuji’s voice sent a fresh wave of anxiety shooting across Futaba’s senses. She wriggled out of Akira’s grip and shoved the boys away, frantically searching her room for-  
  
There. She scooped her phone into her hands, clicked a name on speed dial. It rang once, twice, before Futaba hurled her phone aside in frustration and cast herself into the Aether.   
  
The world in Futaba’s senses exploded into light and color, a sea of neon amidst the shadows of astral space. Her consciousness shot through the city, a comet leaving a shining trail of carrot-red and neon-green, down streets, along power lines, searching, searching-  
  
Across the city, Shiho woke up. She sat up, beset by a sudden melancholy, Ann’s arm curling tight around her waist.   
  
Back in Yongen-jaya, Futaba’s consciousness slammed back into her body. She threw her arms around Akira’s neck with a wordless sob, and sank into his embrace, trembling.   
  
Akira shushed her, smoothing her hair against her scalp and rubbing circles into her back. Prometheus’ power lingered in the air, trailing in wisps of blue fire from her limbs, casting the three of them in its eerie, otherworldly glow.   
  
Ryuji met Akira’s eyes, questioning. Akira just shrugged, trailing his fingers through Futaba’s hair.   
  
“It’s okay,” Akira whispered as Futaba hiccuped and sobbed into his shoulder. “You’re okay. It was just a bad dream.”  
  
But then Akira saw the flicker of white on the windowsill, and heard the voice echoing in his head.   
  
_You were warned,_ Lavenza whispered across the worlds, as the white butterfly, harbinger of fate, flitted away, leaving Futaba and her brothers alone in the dark.   
  
~*~


End file.
